


Anatomy of Affection

by TheRoseDuelist_030609



Series: Affection Trilogy [1]
Category: Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, F/M, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-16 15:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11256057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRoseDuelist_030609/pseuds/TheRoseDuelist_030609
Summary: As a former resident of Hell, Neuro is unfamiliar with certain physical displays of human affection. But as he starts experimenting with Yako, will he grow to like it too much?





	1. Curiosity [Interest]

**Author's Note:**

> Since I’ve been struggling with writing for a bit now, I’ve decided to touch up Anatomy of Affection and post it here to AO3. No severe changes, mostly word adjustments and such that I never fixed.

Yako choked as she was suddenly snagged by the back of her sweater and yanked backwards to stand directly beside her ‘Assistant’. “Wha-what the heck?!” She coughed.

“What is all this about?” Neuro asked blandly, pointing to a nearby couple snuggling on a nearby bench.

“What's what about?” The girl blinked, not seeing anything particularly strange.

The demon grabbed her head and painfully turned it so that she saw every couple standing around the park. Each was wrapped around each other, either gently or tightly, but all were snuggled together in lip lock. “That,” he said. “Why is everyone trying to swallow each other?”

Turning slightly, Yako gave the hell-spawn a skeptical blink at his bizarre inquiry. “You mean kissing,” she said. “People are kissing.”

“Kissing,” Neuro repeated the word, sampling it even as he stored it away. But he did not release his hold upon the girl's head as he forced her to look up at him. "For what purpose?"

Yako looked at him flatly. “For what…? They're kissing,” she said, as the word alone should have explained everything. It was White Day, so plenty of women were thanking their boyfriends and such for their gifts. But Neuro's grip on her head only tightened and he twisted her neck to the point it popped painfully before letting her drop to the ground.  
“You have stated this, but what is the reason for it?” He repeated, his annoyance at her stupid evasion toward answering clearly showing in his tone.

Rubbing her sore neck, the young woman sat up to meet his darkening green gaze before she realized that he was serious. “You mean you… You really have no idea?” She asked, astonished.

Gripping her small head in his larger hand, Neuro shook his slave so violently he could almost hear her insect-sized brain rattle within the caverns of her skull. The high risk of her neck snapping came as the obvious answer that if he had any clue, he would not be asking her to explain.

“Okay! Okay! Okay!” Yako grabbed his arm in an attempt to halt his actions. “OKAY! STOP ALREADY!”

He at last relented and held her still, allowing her a chance to gather her thoughts to answer his inquiry.

“Kissing is…it's…well…” She stopped, realizing she knew no real way to define or explain the simple act.

Neuro's grip on her cranium tightened. “I'm waiting, bread-crust.”

“Owowowowow! It's just a show of affection!” The girl finally blurted.

Neuro stared blankly, raising her to be eye level with him. “Affection?”

“It's a way of showing…that you care? Maybe? I guess?”

The demon quirked an eyebrow, clearly still not understanding. “But what does it do?”

Scratching her temple thoughtfully, Yako shrugged. “I've only ever kissed my parents before, so…”

“You kiss your mother like that?” Neuro motioned toward a couple seeming to crush each other as they stood kissing each other eagerly behind a nearby tree.

“No! Not like that!” The girl exclaimed. “There are lots of different ways you kiss someone.”

Green eyes met her caramel-colored ones again. “Such as?”

“Like, people sometimes kiss children on the cheek or forehead to show affection or comfort them. That sort of thing. And…there's kissing someone good-bye or hello. Then there’s…that.” She pointed to one of the couple behind the tree.

“Yes. And?”

Man, this is awkward… Yako never realized how difficult it was to explain something that was common knowledge to everyone on Earth until the one person who wasn't native to it asked. “That’s basically all there is to it, I guess…”

Neuro at last relinquished his grip on her head as he seemed to think about this.

“Anyway, I have a test is Math class tomorrow,” Yako said, gladly changing the subject. “Since you haven’t picked up any Puzzles, I figure I’ll just go home and—“

Turning to look at her boss, Yako had not been expecting to find Neuro’s lips upon her own. It was really nothing more than the pressure of his lips on hers for only a few seconds, but there they were, all the same.

Her first kiss.

The demon ‘foreigner’ pulled back and observed the wide-eyed shock upon his servant’s face as she stood frozen. While her expression was oddly pleasing, he was perplexed and disappointed at the lack of…whatever it was one should get from such things. It was one thing to show how one feels, but surely it had to do something if so many people were doing it. Really, it made no sense otherwise.

“Hm. Nothing of particular consequence.”

Neuro’s muttered words seemed to snap the girl out of her stupor. Her face was already flushed with embarrassment, but as righteous indignation began to burn her glow shifted to maidenly fury. Her first kiss, stolen by her demonic cohort…and he didn't even value it!

Her blood burning hot, not caring of the ill-fated consequences that were sure to follow, Yako hurled her school bag with every ounce of strength she had. The small part of her brain that wasn't drowned out by anger was vaguely surprised that her cheap school bag actually nailed Neuro right in the face, but she couldn't revel in the surprised expression on the blue-clad demon's face as the bag fell to the ground. She was still furious, and wouldn't let fear or satisfaction overthrow it.

“You! You…butt-face!” She exclaimed, drawing more than one gaze. “You creep! I hate you!”

Neuro found he could only stare in stunned confusion as Yako turned and stormed away down the sidewalk. He honestly had no clue what the louse was so upset about. It had to be another one of those ‘human feelings’ that caused so much trouble. Admittedly, the native of Hell had experienced a few since coming to the human world, but he couldn't say they were nearly as sporadic as Yako’s seemed to be. ‘Female hormones’ he believed was the term so widely used.

All the same, the slave had dared to strike her master. The fact it had not hurt in the slightest was beside the issue. Punishment was necessary. Picking up the offending bag off the ground, a grin plastered to his face, Neuro carried it back to the office.

 

* * *

 

 Yako slammed the front door behind her as she entered her home, and ripped off her shoes before tearing down the hall. She barely missed her mother as she headed for the stairs.

“W-welcome home, Yako,” Haruka stammered.

“He's awful!” The girl exclaimed over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs. “He's a complete and total snake! How could he do that?! He didn't even care that he stole it from me! My first one! I hope he chokes on the next newspaper he reads!”

The sound of her bedroom door slamming shut ended Yako’s tirade.

The dark-haired woman stood at the bottom of the stairs, carefully processing what her beloved daughter had shot out. When she was done thinking, Haruka couldn't help smiling at the girl's distress.

After hastily changing out of her school uniform, Yako quickly went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. It wasn't really necessary, as Neuro had not actually penetrated her lips, but her in her fury it was all she could think to do. Spitting the minty foam out into the sink, she then gargled a few times before being satisfied enough to leave the bathroom.

Her nose was greeted by the sweet and spicy smell of Chinese food and was instantly downstairs to find her mom setting the table, while the counter was covered by various sized white boxes.

Haruka smiled at her daughter's expression. “Yako, since Miwako-san has the day off, I ordered take out,” her mother said. “How does Wu Fei’s sound for dinner?”

“Great!” The young woman beamed at the sweet and spicy meal laid before her, and the two were soon sitting down and chatting away.

“So, how was your day?” Her mother asked easily as she served herself a bowl of rice and veggies.

“It was…okay,” Yako replied carefully as she grabbed a box of sweet and sour chicken and proceeded to devour it. There was no need to elaborate on the case Neuro had sniffed out that afternoon. “How was work? Anything special going on?”

“Oh, just the usual,” Haruka waved it away. “Everything going okay at school? You've been able to keep up with everything?”

“Yeah, I guess I’m doing okay.”

Haruka carefully observed her daughter’s expression before speaking further. “So…whoever it was, kissed you after school?”

Yako hit the table with her fist. “It wasn't a real kiss! It was a steal! And he just—”

She stopped upon noticing the wide grin upon her mother’s face and looked down at the table. “What made you think something like that?”

The woman smiled broadly. “Well, the ‘snake’ and ‘first one’ that you shouted earlier were pretty clear signs of a stolen kiss. Either that…or you slept with someone undeserving.” She leaned across the table severely. “You haven’t, have you?”

Yako shook her head violently, trying to hide her blush. “You were right the first time!”

Haruka shrugged. “Well, if it did happen to go that far—”

“It didn’t! It hasn’t! It won’t!” The girl declared, blushing as red as a chili pepper.

“Okay, okay,” the magazine editor said calmly. “Do you want to talk about what did happen?”  
Yako took another bite as she thought about confiding in her mother. It would be nice to talk to someone, but it wouldn’t be particularly easy. There was quite a bit she always had to cut out when she recounted her day to her Mom; not necessarily Demon-related. Yako had come to understand that Humans were a very frightening species.

Seeing that her daughter was caught up in her own thoughts, Haruka decided a change in tactics. “Well, I guess I really figured out what was wrong because your outburst was pretty similar to mine.”

At this, Yako looked up with interest. “What?”

“Yup, someone stole your Mama’s first kiss, too,” the woman smiled broadly.

“Was it Dad?” She asked, honestly interested.

Yako was surprised when her mom shook her head. “No, it was actually a friend of his,” she laughed. “I remember…it was Festival time at school. Your father and his friend were in a different class than mine, I didn’t even know them back then. But we got caught up in how crowded the hall was and…well. Your dad’s friend and I were squished against the wall and he ended up kissing me.” The sweet glow upon Haruka’s face belied the wickedness of her next words, “I hit him a few times and tried to throw him out the window, but your father and the rest of his friends managed to stop me.”

Yako couldn't help the small twitch. It hadn't been so much of a steal as it was an accident on both sides. Plus her mom had been near homicidal about the whole thing.

“Your father came by my classroom later to talk to me,” her mother went on. “I didn't really want to listen to him, but he still managed somehow to admonish me and make me feel bad.”

Yako remembered; her dad was always sweet and gentle, but no one could make it through to people like he could. No matter what he was trying to say, he could always make someone see both sides of an argument and understand what he meant.

“After that, we started seeing each other,” Haruka went on wistfully. “Your Daddy may not have gotten my first kiss, but he certainly owned every one after that.”

“That’s nice,” Yako sighed heavily. “Certainly better than me, I’m sure.”

“Oh?” Her mother sat up, interest sparkling in her eyes like a cat. “Tell me about it.”

The teenager glared at the wall to her left. “He… We were walking through the park and…a lot of people were kissing. He didn't really get why everyone was kissing, or why people actually kiss at all,” she said.

“He didn’t understand kissing?” Haruka blinked. “That’s a little strange…”

“Totally! He had no idea why people kissed!” Yako said, hotly. “So he expects me to explain it, and after I say what I can, he kisses me! He didn’t even apologize for it! He acted like it was no big deal!”

“With tongue?”

“MOM!” The girl’s face burned hot red at her mother’s words. “NO!”

“Just asking,” her mother said quickly. “And…he didn’t push the issue?”

“Even after he kissed me, he still didn't seem to get it,” Yako said. “But I…I got angry and left.”

Haruka nodded, remaining silent as she seemed to analyze something. When she seemed to reach some sort of conclusion, she smiled. “It seems to me, this boy isn’t used to kissing, even among close relations. It’s probably completely unfamiliar to him, though I’m not sure how…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you said he asked you to explain it, because he didn’t know why people kiss, right?” To her mother’s inquiry, Yako nodded. “If he’s never seen people doing it before, and needed someone to give an explanation, it’s not likely he would know what it would mean to a girl to have her first kiss stolen. I wonder…if that was his first kiss, too.”

Yako blinked, gaped, not really sure what to say about this new information. “But… That's…”

“I seriously wonder where this kid comes from that he never saw someone kissing…”

When dinner was finished, Yako found herself sitting on her bed, deeply considering what her mother had said. Neuro’s first kiss? Was it possible? The demon was always so suave and sophisticated, she had never really thought about it before.

Now that she actually stopped to mull over it, she reminded herself that Neuro's real form was a bizarre parody of a bird; he didn't actually have any lips. He had told her about plenty of wacky things in Hell, and she could remember that weird ‘Dating Game’ he had set up in the office that one time. She supposed any gentle shows of affection—especially kissing—were way out there in left field to him.

“Wow.” She felt a little bad about her outburst, but not bad enough to quench her rage completely. Even if he didn’t know anything about it, a maiden’s lips were not for stealing, and she would not forgive him. Besides, he wouldn't bother asking for her forgiveness. “God, I hate him.”

The sudden ringing of Yako’s cell phone caught her attention and she stretched across the bed to grab her school bag off the floor and pull out her phone.

“Hello?”

 _“Yo, Yako!”_ Kanae was at the other end. _“What's up? I've been ringing you for hours!”_

“You have? I didn’t hear—” Yako stopped. She didn't hear her phone ringing.  Her phone had been left in her bag.  She didn’t bring her school bag home with her today. She wouldn't have heard her cell ringing. But she heard it this time, because her bag was suddenly at home. In her room.

Tilting her head back, the teenager met the green gaze of the grinning demon plastered to her ceiling.

“Kanae, can I call you back? I’m…caught up in the middle of something right now…”

Her friend gave an exasperated sigh. _“Alright, but be sure to get back to me!”_

“I will. Bye.”

Neuro dropped down from the ceiling as Yako hung up. “A pleasant evening, isn’t it, wood louse?”

“Not particularly,” Yako answered truthfully.

“Oh? Is it stress?” The demon inquired in fake sweetness. “I thought you might be worried without your school books. If I recall, you have a test in Math tomorrow.”

‘Yeah. Okay, he did something.’ Reluctantly, Yako drew the book out and opened it. Every page was littered with scribbles of various monsters as well as obscene words in more than one language. What's more, every Math problem and solution had somehow been scrambled about the page; anything she was actually able to read made absolutely no sense.

“I released ‘Evil Book Worm’ into your bag,” Neuro smiled brightly as he sat on the open sill of the Yako’s bedroom window. “Sadly, it didn’t seem to take to Mathematics and just kept spitting it back out on to the page.”

“Dazzling, Neuro,” Yako sighed as she returned the ruined book to her bag. She was sure the rest of her books were in similar condition, but didn’t feel like dealing with it tonight.

“On to more important matters, I caught the air of a Puzzle,” Neuro’s black bangs twitched in emphasis to his words. “But it shouldn’t be ready until tomorrow afternoon. You'll have to cut lunch and afternoon classes for us to make it in time."

“But tomorrow they're serving—” Yako cut herself off as the demon gave her ‘the look’.

There was no particular way to describe this expression—it was like a smile, but was so much stranger—in spite of the millions of times Yako had seen it upon Neuro’s face. But ‘the look’ was always a clear sign that she would not be allowed any room to argue or object—she either did as he directed her or be punished.

“Geez!” She turned away, exasperated, and thus declared him the winner of their small dispute. “With that kind of mind-set, it’s no wonder you’ve never been kissed,” she muttered.

“About that, I still don’t get what all the fuss is about,” Neuro said, either not noticing Yako’s twitch or simply ignoring it. “Everywhere, humans are always doing it. But there wasn’t anything special about it when I kissed you. Maybe it’s you. I bet—”

Neuro saw the alarm clock coming and managed to catch it before it impacted with his head. But he was mildly surprised by the various books, clothes and even the desk chair that came flying at him. Hopping out the window to avoid further projectiles, the demon landed gracefully on the ground below—right beside several blocks that were originally supposed to be a cake—and looked back up at the window in time to dodge a magazine.

“You…you…YOU THUG! SCUM OF THE EARTH! ENEMY OF ALL WOMEN!” Yako screamed out her window, attracting some attention from the neighbors who looked out to see what the fuss was about. “There is no small thing wrong with you, do you hear me?! I hope you die of Cholera, you sleaze!”  
And with that, she slammed her window shut and closed the curtains.

Neuro was willing to admit he was vaguely surprised. He could terrify, confuse, exasperate and generally upset Yako, but this was the first time he had seen her display such raw fury. And again, it had been about the whole ‘kissing’ thing.

Still holding her alarm clock, Neuro allowed himself a smile. “I will have to cleverly modify the alarm to bite her rather than emit an irritating shrill each morning.”

“Oh, it’s you, Neuro-kun!”

Quickly pulling up his more human expression, Neuro turned to face the open window on his right and met the smiling face of Yako’s mother. He had landed just outside the woman's studio. “Good evening, Madam.”

“A little late to be paying a visit, don’t you think?” Haruka smiled, leaning against the window frame.

“Oh, I had to discuss something important with Sensei,” he said, casting a rueful glance up toward Yako’s window. “But she seems to be in a poor mood tonight.”

Haruka's smiled broadened as she cocked one eyebrow. “Well, she'll probably be a little upset for a while. After you stole her first kiss and all.”

Neuro blinked and the woman chuckled at his expression.

“I thought it might be you, but I wasn't sure until you showed up,” Haruka went on easily. “Anyway, I wouldn’t worry too much. She’ll cool her melon and things will settle down again in no time.”

“I take it this is normal for a…‘first kiss’?” Neuro asked, trying to look contrite. “I’m…a little unaccustomed to things like this.”

“Don't let it get you down, she’s got my temper,” Haruka waved her hand. “Besides, she’s no more used to it than you. And if you play your cards right, I’m sure she won’t mind kissing you again.” She reached out and patted his shoulder with a bright smile. “But if you force her into any situation that compromises her chastity without her consent, I’ll break your legs.”

Still bearing a sunny expression, Haruka bid Neuro a good night, closed the window and then the curtains.

Assaulted by his servant and then threatened by her mother. Ridiculous as both situations had been, it had been an interesting turn of events, to say the least. And all because of a small ‘kiss’.

Bewildered but also strangely amused, Neuro headed back to the office—still carrying Yako’s alarm clock—and decided that he just might get to like this whole ‘kissing’ thing if it caused this much fun.


	2. Smile [Reaction]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing on, Neuro has a few stories to tell. As well as a few things to learn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was originally a two year gap between chapters 1 and 2, so I think the rest of the chapters are better written, though I'll still be making some adjustments here and there.

Neuro could feel his human’s eyes on him again.

Indeed, she had been glaring at him a lot lately, usually bearing a new bite mark somewhere from her alarm clock to warrant this scathing look.  But today, she was simply looking at him.  Whether he was reading or solving one of the smaller puzzles Yako had bought to keep around the office, she watched him with some peculiar interest.

“Is something about my face distracting you, fish-bait?”  The demon inquired amiably.  He didn’t need her brain cells burning out from too much thinking.  “There are enough case files for you to look at, and I’m certain that will be much more productive.”

“You smile a lot.”

Neuro blinked at this blunt statement, meeting his servant’s gaze of tarnished gold.  “Yes.  What of it?”

Yako sighed, scratching at an itch from a bite left on her neck.  Starting today, she would rely on her cell phone alarm to get her up on time.  “I was just wondering if all demons smile as much as you do...”

At this, the demon leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling thoughtfully.  “No, not many demons do,” he replied.  “To be honest, it’s more of a habit than anything.”

“A habit?”

“Yes!”  Neuro grinned.  “You see, my father rarely smiled.  So I made something of a habit of smiling wherever and whenever.  People seemed to like it until I reached a certain age.  Then they just seemed to start dreading it…”

It took the young woman a moment to process what her demon had said.  Really, only one thing stuck with her.  “Father?  _You_ …have a **_Father_**?”

“Don’t be silly!  Everyone has a father; you can’t expect the mother to do it on her own.”  Neuro smiled pleasantly, and Yako could almost see the obnoxious sparkles glittering around him as he did so.

The very thought that someone had actually spawned a creature like Neuro was disturbing.  Especially if she considered the possibility the man could be worse than her resident demon.

“So…you’re dad didn’t smile much, huh…?”  She felt safer sticking to the first topic.

“Almost never,” Neuro sighed.  “My mother often said it was because he didn’t know how to do it right.  So I was determined to outdo him and mastered smiling like my mother taught me.  Before I knew it, I was smiling all the time.”

Yako hummed at that.  “Was your mother a demon?”

“No.”

The girl was surprised and confused by his blunt answer.  She couldn’t help asking, “Then…what was she?”

Neuro smiled, oddly gentle and his face seemed to glow with his reply.  “A Goddess.”

Yako gaped.  A Goddess?  Did things like that exist?  Well, she had a demon lounging a few feet from her, so she shouldn’t dismiss the possibility.  Heck, the Loch Ness Monster and the Abominable Snow Man could exist out there.  But a Goddess and Demon?  What sort of celestial being had a child with hell spawn?  If Neuro’s father was anything like he was, how could a spark even be ignited?

The young woman stopped when she saw Neuro giving her ‘the look’ again.  And then she realized why and glared.  “Are you making fun of me?”

“I could be…” The demon mused, opening a newspaper.  “What do you think?”

Yako sighed, deciding not answer him.  If she said he was wrong, he might retaliate.  Mostly, she just wasn’t sure.  “Your mother smiled a lot, then?”

“About as much as you…” He stopped, lowering his paper.  “She missed where she came from often.  It became impossible for her to leave after she married my father, and her birthplace was far different from the landscapes of Hell.  Not many demons looked like her, it sometimes made her uncomfortable.  Because I was capable of changing my appearance, it was easier to learn how to smile with her.” 

He suddenly sighed, folding his newspaper back up.  “She was happy about that.  But at times, she only really smiled when she was with my father.”

Staring at him, Yako wondered if she was thinking about it too much.  It almost sounded like Neuro was…jealous of his father?  For his mother’s attention, or maybe her affection?

But rather than voicing her thoughts, Yako picked a case file out of the box on the table to immerse herself in.  She paged through it for a bit before suddenly finding herself smiling.  “Because she was unhappy, you smiled for your Mother to make her feel better.  That’s a nice way to show that you loved her.”

“Personally, because you’re smiling all the time, I can only tell when you feel like torturing someone or when you’re really pissed off.  The nicest smile I’ve ever seen you have was when you—”

Before she knew what was happening, Neuro was suddenly right behind her, grinding his fists into her skull as he grinned manically.  “As I have said, put what little thought process you have into something more productive, louse.”

He leaned down too look at the file she was holding, but hardly in the mood to humor him, Yako drew it away.  In response, Neuro pulled her hair to draw her back.  And she in turn grabbed his hand to get him to let go, while at the same time struggling to keep the papers away from him.

Neuro was amused at her futile efforts and allowed her to struggle a bit more before leaning closer.  “I can tell it’s a good one, Yako, just let me—”

“No!  You let go firs—”

As Yako turned, she hadn’t thought about just how close the demon was.  Therefore, she hadn’t stopped to think on how to avoid meeting Neuro’s open mouth with her own.

And thus, they kissed for the second time.

Neuro had not felt anything in particular from the kiss he had stolen from Yako before.  But this time, he felt an irregular tingle dance across his scalp.  It was vaguely painful, while at the same time distinctly pleasant.  He drew back after about five seconds, and taking advantage of Yako’s stupor to snatch the file from her lax grip.

Yako sat stupefied.  How could she let it happen again?  She managed to take some vague comfort in the stunned look on Neuro’s face.  She had only seen that look a handful of times, and it always made her feel good, like it was actually possible to best the demon.  At the moment, she just glad her lips hadn’t been burned at all by Neuro’s saliva.

So focused on the apparent survival of her mouth, Yako didn’t see Neuro’s inquisitive smile from his desk.

The rest of the afternoon passed by leisurely into evening, and while there were a few puzzles that Neuro took interest in, there was no news on the New Bloodline.  The next day would hopefully produce something better, but at that point, Yako was ready to go home.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Akane-chan,” she smiled to the braid as she hefted up her bookbag and headed for the door.

Naturally, as Neuro had been sitting a Troy the entire time, Yako hadn’t expected the demon to swing down from the ceiling and catch her by the head.  It had happened enough times; she was thoroughly ashamed of herself for not seeing it coming.

However, it was when Neuro lifted her just a foot off the ground when he stunned her with her third kiss right on the mouth.  Stunned for only a moment, she quickly began to struggle.  Flailing her arms, kicking her legs, and even hitting Neuro had little effect since he was upside-down and a demon.  But after about twenty seconds of her being suspended off the floor and having him swallow all her vocal protests, the brain-eater dropped her.

Second after hitting the floor, Yako scurried away until she felt Troy at her back and covered her mouth, certain she was blushing all the way down to her toes.  “What the hell was that?!”

Neuro stood in place on the ceiling, touching his own lips curiously.  “How odd…There was nothing the first time, and nothing now either.  But the connection earlier most certainly initiated some sort of reaction.”

Neuro looked honestly baffled, a rare expression on the demon’s features.

“The first and third were initiated by me, and yet there was nothing either time,” the demon went on bemusedly.  “The second was by accident…but you were the one who moved at that time.  It must be you.  You hold some factor in this whole ‘kissing’ business.”

 _‘Of course it takes two people to kiss, you moron!’_  Yako did not uncover her mouth to shout at the demon, simply deciding that in spite of all things going on around them, Neuro grew bored far too easily.

Without another thought, Neuro approach the girl, towering over her with a jack-o-lantern grin.  “Yako.  Kiss me.”

The human girl immediately paled. 

He wanted her to do **_what_**?!

Holding her hands clamped tightly over her mouth, she determinedly shook her head.  She didn’t lick his shoes for the sake of her school education; she was most definitely not going to lock lips with him willingly so that he could satisfy some morbid curiosity.

“Come now, Yako, don’t be difficult,” the demon smiled pleasantly—a sure sign of something wicked coming her way—as he picked her up by the front of her sweater and set her on her feet.  “It’s a rather simple act, isn’t it?  Anyone can do it.”

Even so, Yako refused to uncover her already violated lips.  Instead, she confirmed the exit some ways behind Neuro and move to hurry past him.  He caught her around the waist, however, and tossed her on to the nearest sofa.

But refusing to be stopped, Yako got back up and made another mad dash for the door.  Again, only to be caught and slammed against the wall, right beside the exit.

The moment she was again face-to-face with the demon, she covered her mouth again.

“Is it such a terrible thing, wood louse?”  Neuro asked, closing the distance between them.  “If it really is so awful, why do people do it so often?”

Yako refused to try and answer him.

“Just one kiss, right here…” Neuro tapped his mouth, “…and that’s all.  It’s not that hard.  And then I’ll let you go.”

Yako glared as harshly as she could, though she doubted that she could faze the hell-spawn in the slightest by doing so.  Glancing at the door, only inches away, she also knew that she would never make it through.  Where Neuro had simply wanted to alleviate some boredom and win her everlasting servitude when he demanded she lick his shoes, he was adamant about his wanting to know something about kissing.  This was something he _had_ to know.

But…to _kiss_ Neuro?  Willingly?

To be fair, he was holding her hostage until she complied with his demands, so it wasn’t really her will that mattered in this.  But still!  This was a matter of personal pride and dignity!

After battling with herself for about two minutes, Yako dropped her hands with a heavy sigh.  Once again, it seemed she had no choice when it came to the Brain Eater, Neuro.

“Lean down… You’re too tall for me to reach you…”

Not wanting to see his smile of victory, Yako closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.  When she looked at him, he had leaned down as she asked and waited with an almost eager smile.  She really wanted to shoot herself.

Taking another breath, she put her hands on his shoulders as she got on her toes—because he was still too tall—and landed a kiss right on the demon’s mouth.  At the contact, she immediately shut her eyes and waited until Neuro either pushed her away or threw her over his shoulder.

Surprisingly, he did neither.  Instead, he turned her head just slightly so that he could open his mouth against hers.

He made no move to slip his tongue into her mouth, but just the feeling of his hot breath passing her lips made Yako shiver.  Goosebumps travelled across her skin like a wave on the ocean, causing a tremble throughout her limbs as her hair stood on end.

Similarly, Neuro felt that tingle on his scalp go all the way out to the ends of his hair.  He also felt a small spark of energy dance from one of his batteries to another, and oddly pleased with the sensation, he deepened the kiss.  He swallowed his human’s gasp at the action, and just as pleased with her reaction, ever so slightly, he reached out and licked her bottom lip.

This time, Yako pulled back, breaking their lip lock.  She leaned back against the wall, heaving in the cool air of the office as she tried to get a handle on herself.  She had never kissed a boy before Neuro, so she couldn’t say if it was good or bad.  Even as she tried to tell herself she didn’t like kissing the demon in the slightest.

“If-If-If that’s…all you wanted…I’m going home!”  She quickly picked up her bag, opened the door and hurried away down the hall.  She hit the button on the elevator, but not feeling capable of holding still for that long, she headed for the stairs.

During her poor excuse at saying the last word, as well as her exit, Yako had not once looked at Neuro.  Naturally, not wanting to see her defeat at his victory, she didn’t see his smile at the reaction he had felt at his fourth kiss.

Honestly, he wondered if the smile he had the rest of the evening rivaled even those honest smiles he had given his Mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!!


	3. Contact [Intimacy]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s fanarts for this chapter!
> 
> First, a collage by the wonderful lacrimode. http://lacrimode.tumblr.com/post/19170088077/so-slightly-inappropriate-drawings-of-neuro-and
> 
> Followed by the delightful work of chocobito. http://chocobito.tumblr.com/post/145121719496/from-one-of-the-best-fanfics-of-the
> 
> Thank you both for such high praise!!!

After catching a live grenade, being shot at by the police, being shoved into an air vent, defusing a bomb, watching as a member of the New Bloodline become Neuro’s toy, and finally watching as she and her last servant destroyed themselves, Yako could honestly say her day had been a hectic one.

And so, at the end of such a day, the young woman was glad just to find herself at home, in a nice hot bath.

The downside that naturally came with every relief was that Neuro had decided to follow her home. What’s more, he was currently sitting about two feet away, rinsing soap from his hair. He was also completely naked, save for his gloves and the towel he had been considerate enough to tie around his waist.

Thank God her mother wasn’t home. Who knows what she would say to this!

“Human bath oils smell strange. And this water is still too cold,” the demon complained as he swept his hair back. Yako would have thought the way his black bangs went behind his ears and against his lighter blond-green locks actually looked nice, had he not been filling the entire room with steam from the scalding water spewing from the showerhead. He hadn’t bothered to turn the cold water on at all, instead opting to turn on the hot water as high as it could go in his fruitless effort to warm himself.

While her bath was nice, she was starting to sweat and worried that she might have to shower again with how stifling the room was getting. Not to mention, their water bill was going to be insane.

“Whatever. Just don’t flood the house,” Yako sighed as she secured her towel and left the bath.

“Leaving already, louse?” Neuro grinned, offering her the shower. “Why don’t you test this? It still feels too cold for me.”

Doubtless, the current temperature of the shower would burn her skin right off.

“No, thank you,” she answered steadily. “Don’t forget to turn the water off, and please, don’t leave anything in the tub that will scare my Mom to death.”

“What about halfway to death?”

Yako didn’t bother stopping to answer him.

 

* * *

 

By the time Neuro had finished his bath, Yako had already eaten dinner. Once again dressed in his blue pants and white vest, he found her sitting on her bed, contentedly munching on a small cup of ice cream.

She didn’t bother feeling embarrassed about the demon coming in with her dirty laundry sitting in the corner, much less being seen in her short pajama bottoms and tank top, without a bra on. He had always made a point in letting her know he did not find her attractive in the least. The best thing, really; she hated having to wear bras in the comfort of her own room.

“Feeling better?” She asked around her spoon.

“Slightly more refreshed, perhaps,” the demon replied, dropping his sopping wet towel on her head. “But not nearly as much I’d wish to be. Human plumbing leaves much to be desired. In Hell, there is only one faucet designed to give cold water. Every other person only needs hot water for bathing.”

“Who owns the one with cold water?” Yako asked, curious as she got out from under Neuro’s hot towel.

“My Mother,” Neuro beamed. Once again, his human could swear she saw sparkles around the Demon’s face at the mention of the woman.

“Right. The Goddess…” She still wasn’t sure if she really believed him on that. “For the sake of asking, exactly how did your Father, a Demon, marry a Goddess, exactly?”

Neuro plopped down on the bed beside her, smiling like a pleased little boy with a secret. One he actually wanted to share.

“The way I hear it told, my Father has never really had a problem with visiting other worlds, and he happened to be on such a trip at the time,” the Demon said. “A bright world, full of endless noise, that’s what he always said. It was unpleasant to my Father in every possible way and he inevitably lost his temper. When they met, he had committed some ‘act of evil’ that is often associated with Demons, right in front of her. But she waltzed right up to him and demanded that he apologize and make amends for his crime. Naturally, my Father refused.”

‘As pleasant and as charming as you…’ Yako thought to herself. “So? What did she do?”

Neuro’s smile practically glowed with delight. “She hit him.”

Yako stared, wide-eyed. She couldn’t have heard him right. “What…?”

“She hit him,” the demon repeated, as elated as before. “Stormed right up to him and ‘whammo!’ Right in the face.”

“Ballsy…!” The human breathed. “And then what? Was your father angry?”

“Furious.” Neuro beamed

“And what did he do?” She was almost afraid to know.

His smile didn’t budge as he answered her, “He put the moves on her.”

Katsuragi Yako’s mouth fell open and she paled.

“Yes. He courted her, night and day, asking that she marry him,” Neuro laughed. “Of course, my Mother refused him each and every time. But as the days wore on, Father lost patience and dragged her back to Hell with him.”

“He kidnapped her?!”

“He ‘abducted’ her. She was in no way a ‘kid’, Yako,” the Demon corrected mildly. “He figured that once he had her where he wanted her, she’d cave and they would start the life of a married couple. But, oh! Did she put him through the wringer! She refused every gift, every little thing he had to offer. She even refused to eat or drink.” Neuro laughed. “I really wish I could have seen him pleading with her at every moment. What a sight that must have been!”

Yako was hardly amused. Folding her arms across her middle, she glared at the demon sitting across the bed. “But I guess she gave in eventually, huh?”

“Naturally!” Neuro replied cheerfully. “Otherwise, I doubt I would be here now.”

“That’s horrible!” She exclaimed. “Of all the— That’s just— I can’t believe he— That’s the lowest of the low! Kidnapping some poor, helpless girl! Isolating her and whittling away at her until she gives him what he wants! And even then, she couldn’t go back home.”

“Appalling, isn’t it?” Neuro sighed.

“You’re just as bad as he is!” Yako shouted. She quickly realized just who she had lashed at, but rather that feeling regretful and apologetic, she just sat there and fumed. Waiting for whatever punishment the Demon chose to deal out.

Surprisingly, Neuro simply chuckled at his human’s outburst. “Oh, that I know. I have to be worse than him in some cases. But you should know, my Mother wasn’t weak. She never surrendered. They improved on one another a great, long before they had me.”

He saw that his words had barely any effect on the girl as she continued glaring at the wall to her left, perhaps making some attempt to burn a hole through the plaster with her fury. So, in an effort to retrieve her attention, Neuro leaned over and planted a warm, wet kiss right on her temple.

While this certainly snagged her attention, it did nothing to improve her attitude.

“Will you stop that?! It isn’t funny!” She snapped, her face flushing as she used her blanket to wipe away his kiss. Once again, she was thankful that the demon’s acidic saliva had not done any damage.

Since the incident in the office, Neuro had taken every opportunity to pop out and deliver a peck to his unsuspecting human. Each time, she became more and more emotional about it. This time, like many others, she had not failed to react appropriately.

“I find it extremely entertaining!” Neuro replied evenly. “Your reactions are always so volatile, and I really love that ‘zing!’ that I get from kissing you.”

Yako felt more heat flood her face, but hastily looked away. “I don’t like it at all. Not one bit.”

Surprisingly, the Brain-Eater actually stopped to consider this. “Why not? Everyone does it, and they all seem to enjoy it.”

“Well, I don’t!” The human girl said. “I’m not some…! If you want to enjoy kissing, do it with someone else! Leave me out of it!”

As Neuro thought about it, it might make sense to experiment kissing elsewhere. That very day, Genuine had certainly offered such a service, and more besides. But almost immediately, the Demon felt disgusted with the thought of touching some other human in such a way. Like most things, it had to be Yako or it was no fun at all.

But certainly, Yako should take some enjoyment from the act of kissing. She just had to be doing in wrong.

“Alright, then!” Neuro sat up, adjusting himself to sit cross-legged before the girl. He smiled when she visibly flinched and scooted away. “Obviously, you are improperly educated on such matters.”

‘This coming from the Hell Spawn that needed me to explain kissing in the first place…!’

“I, however, have done research and know the proper way to go about kissing,” the demon explained. “It is only a simple matter of finding out one’s preferences and engaging in them. So…”

Neuro leaned in close, leaving minimal space between him and his human.

“…How do you like to kiss?”

Yako face turned white. “EXCUSE ME?!”

“It’s not that complicated a question, louse,” Neuro admonished. “How do you like to kiss? Do you like it slow, or fast? Do you like to kiss, or do you prefer to be kissed? Man or woman?”

“Oh, shut up! I am not about to get into this conversation with you!” Yako exclaimed, moving to get up and leave the room if need be. If there was any mercy for her from some higher power, the demon would get bored and go back to the office soon.

However, like most matters related to one Nougami Neuro, Yako was not granted any mercy. Instead, he caught her by the wrist and pulled her back. And as if that wasn’t enough, she ended up landing right in his lap.

“Now don’t be difficult, Yako,” the demon smiled sweetly. “Here, I’ll start. Do you like it fast…?” He delivered a quick peck to her lips.

“Neuro—”

“Or slow…?”

And the demon seized her lips, catching her with her mouth open and swallowed her words.

Unable to voice her protests to such an indignity, Yako resorted to beating against her captor’s shoulders, pulling at his sorry excuse for a shirt and trying to loosen his hold around her waist. But it was no use, with his ridiculous demon strength in play, she wasn’t going anywhere. Accepting the futility of her efforts, Yako closed her eyes, gripping Neuro’s shoulders tightly as she waited for him to stop.

It might have been easier to just sit there, had her body temperature not risen exponentially. The heat made her skin oddly sensitive, and the light brush of Neuro’s hair and the cool metal of his hair beads against her face were becoming unbearable. She felt itchy, though not really in the normal sense. It wasn’t like a bug bite or a small prickle from anything she knew; only that she desperately wanted to relieve it. Something she didn’t want to think about was urging her let go and scratch that itch.

But she wouldn’t give in. Whatever it was, it was too frightening to just surrender.

Finally, after what felt light thirty minutes—though it was in fact only thirty seconds—the demon let her breathe. Gasping in cool air, Yako leaned her head against Neuro’s shoulder as she struggled to collect her cracked composure and armor up against the demon’s next ridicule or insult.

“I think you like slow better,” Neuro’s voice was hot against her ear, and she didn’t have to look at him to know that his smile was as broad as ever.

Yako couldn’t hope to hide her blush or hold back her tears of embarrassment. “You’re awful…”

“Do you want to try again, just to be sure?” The hell-spawn offered happily.

At his happy tone, Yako weakly hit the shoulder she wasn’t hiding against. “You’re evil. You’ve got absolutely no sense of respect or decency for women.”

“I have no respect for you at all, bread-crust!” Neuro declared cheerfully. “And I don’t care about other women; I have you.”

Yako vaguely wondered if she could take that last part as something akin to a compliment, but decided not to think about it too hard. She was still upset, but didn’t think that she could look her ‘employer’ in the eye just yet.

“Still, don’t even Demons have some sense of modesty?” She demanded. “Sure, you don’t respect personal boundaries at all, but touching like this for humans isn’t…” Yako trailed off with a sigh, certain that Neuro wasn’t really listening to her. He probably couldn’t understand that she didn’t go around flippantly kissing people. The act may have been fun to him, but to her it was a much more intimate thing she didn’t want to do with just anybody. It was bad enough she often ended up doing it with him. “Just let go. I don’t want to do it again.”

“No fun at all,” Neuro sighed dramatically. But out of fairness for his servant, he released her and turned away. Noticing the TV in the corner, he took her remote and went about scanning the news channels for his next meal.

Sighing, feeling relieved as well as dejected, Yako fell against her pillow and picked up a book to take her thoughts elsewhere. Sadly, her eyes kept drifted to the Demon seated not far away, and her thoughts wandered towards his odd interest in kissing. All in all, he didn’t seem affected in the least. Neuro had completely set what just happened aside as he always did. Only a handful of things ever affected the demon, but he certainly never kept them in mind longer than he deemed necessary.

‘Demons don’t kiss. Their Dating Games involve stabbing each other. And Neuro’s father put the moves on the first woman to ever hit him. Maybe they really don’t have any sense of love or intimacy…’ Yako thought idly.

Suddenly, something drew her eyes to the back of her demon’s head. His hair, which had always been so perfect and straight, was actually tangled. Only barely, but it was certainly irked her. For being an absolute devil child, Yako could always say that Neuro was astonishingly symmetrical in his appearance. It hit something in her brain that made the slight disarray unpleasant to see.

So without bothering to point it out—Neuro would likely question how she could dare to think anything was wrong with him—Yako took her hairbrush from her bedside table. She scooted across the bed to where the demon sat. She reached out and carefully touched the green-blond hair—

And the next thing Yako knew, ‘Brain-Eater’ Neuro jumped and quite literally hit the ceiling. The hard sound of his body hitting the plaster, arms out, was quite the shock and made her scream. But the completely rare expression of what could only be called embarrassment and something that looked disturbingly like a blush on the demon’s face made her entire brain freeze in absolute astonishment.

“Just…what do you think you are doing?!” Neuro snapped. He sounded alarmed. Dare she say…mortified?

An ungodly disaster was going to hit the world. The next ice age. Volcanoes erupting all across the world. Continents flipping over. Something unimaginable.

Yako tried to surmount the ice that had covered her cerebellum to answer him. “I…was going to brush your hair…” She managed. “It was…tangled…”

“And just where do you get the gall to do that?!” The demon tried to sound harsh, but even he knew his self-composure had slipped at his human’s unthinkable attempt at touching him in such a way. Casting his gaze to the side, crossing his arms authoritatively across his chest, Yako somehow got the picture of a middle-school boy trying to not look embarrassed about being caught with his pants down or something.

Yako wasn’t sure what to make of it. It was just too alien on the normally so composed creature. “What’s the big deal…?”

“What—” Neuro caught himself, taking a deep breath before trying to answer her. He still didn’t meet his human’s gaze. “That is a very personal, very private activity, Yako. It is not something you should do off-handedly.”

“You’ve grabbed my head before,” Yako pointed out. “And you’ve done it in public. Where was the ‘personal and private activity,’ then?”

Neuro actually grimaced. He managed to ease his flushed appearance somewhat, but it still stood 0ut against his normally pale complexion.

Yako wasn’t sure how much of the demon’s new expressions she could take. She had always thought she would feel vindicated or satisfied if she could just put a chink in Neuro’s armor, if she could get back at him, if she could draw on his face or hit him with a cake right in the face. But somehow, seeing the demon act so awkward was beyond her ability to appreciate it. She just wasn’t prepared for it.

“I have grabbed your head…” he admitted, “…but I have never attempted to brush your hair.”

“Brushing hair…?” She gaped. “Of all the things you’ve ever done to me, brushing hair is so offensive to you?”

The demon’s pale skin had mostly recovered, but once again, Yako really saw a slight flush to his face. “It is not…offensive, per se…” Neuro replied. “It is a private affair. Only lovers or married couples brush each other’s hair.”

Now it was Yako’s turn to feel mortified. By attempting to brush Neuro’s hair, had she unintentionally put the moves on him? Was brushing each other’s hair like a proposal or enticement for something more intimate? Was it an invitation for sex, even?

“Oh my God…!” Yako face-palmed. “You go around kissing me and don’t have a problem with it. And now, because I tried to brush your hair, I’ve thrown myself at you? What the Hell?!”

Neuro sighed from his place on the ceiling. “Humans are almost always seen kissing in the streets, Yako. No Demon would be so vulgar as to brush another’s hair in public.”

“It doesn’t mean that some of us don’t find kissing a personal thing, Neuro!” Yako snapped.

Human and Demon stared at each other, both somewhat uncomfortable, both somewhat embarrassed.

But after a long silence, Neuro landed back on the bed, simultaneously bouncing Yako into the air and onto the floor. Pushing herself back up, she found the Demon was sitting demurely with his back to her.

“Very well, wood louse,” he sighed severely. “I cannot allow you to think that your Master is unfair—”

‘You are unfair, you jackass!’

“—so I shall permit you.” Neuro carefully removed the Demon Batteries from his hair. And so he sat, waiting for his human to make her move. “But if you aggravate me or do a poor job, I will dislocate all the bones in your right hand.”

Yako hesitated. On one hand, Neuro was offering to be fair and allow her to make him as uncomfortable as he had been making her with his random kisses. But on the other hand, she was also making her way into crazy territory of demon intimacy. But not about to have him get upset about making him wait, she soon righted herself and got back on the bed, brush in hand.

And cautiously holding his green-blond hair in her left hand, she started brushing his hair.

Yako had always seen Neuro’s black hair move whenever he sensed a Puzzle. But as she carefully brushed through his hair, she could feel the individual strands move through and twine around her fingers with each brush stroke. Actually, it was similar to when she did Akane’s hair. But a lot creepier, because it was Neuro.

But even if she tried to ignore the fact his hair moved, Yako couldn’t help but be completely aware of each shudder that passed through his lean body, and every breath that caught as she worked. It was almost like his hair was made up of hyper-sensitive nerves to initiate such a reaction. But whatever it really was, it was clear to her that he was experiencing some sort of exhilaration, even from just her fingers gliding through his hair. And it was by no means a platonic reaction.

That must be why only Demon lovers took care of each other’s hair.

As Yako continued to brush through the demon’s living locks, careful not to catch any snags or do anything that might agitate him, she found herself wondering what sort of face Neuro was making. She had seen his ever-constant smile; she had seen him drool over himself with glee at finding a Puzzle; she had seen his oddly pleasant expression while sleeping; in his fury and rage, she had seen his human mask crack and reveal the monster beneath; she also seen him in extreme pain, to the point he couldn’t even move. But what did his face look like amidst the throes of passion and ecstasy?

Did his mask slip, like when he was angry? Or did his expression freeze in place while literally breaking, like when he was completely exhausted? Maybe she couldn’t even imagine it.

Suddenly realizing the dark path her thoughts were taking her, Yako shook the inappropriate curiosity away. Seconds later, she stopped brushing and sat back. “I’m finished…”

Neuro immediately fell backwards. Laying flat on the bed in a boneless heap, his chest heaved up and down as he fought to catch his breath, he moved his arm draped across his eyes. Yako could also see his hair twitch slightly against her covers as the demon gradually recollected his composure.

She once wanted to see the Demon embarrassed, to soothe the indignity she suffered on an almost daily basis. But this was not a sight for just anyone. This was intimate and sexual in a way that she never thought she’d ever see. She felt more embarrassed than Neuro probably did.

It wasn’t until his breathing had evened out a bit that he moved his arm to look at her and Yako finally spoke, saying, “I’m sorry. I’ll remember. I won’t do it again.”

Rather than answering her statement, the Demon suddenly caught her shoulders and pinned her down, and without a word claimed her mouth in a deep, hot kiss. But unlike his other kisses, Neuro had slipped his tongue all the way inside Yako’s mouth. The feeling of his hot tongue moving, touching everywhere inside her mouth was not as disgusting as she had always thought it would be. On the contrary, the feeling made her hair stand on end like a shot of electricity had cut through her, making her feel hotter and more agitated than ever before.

Restless with lying beneath the demon as he ravaged her mouth, not really knowing what she was doing, her hands moved up Neuro’s shoulders. Unable to think, to stop herself, Yako’s hands twined into the demon’s hair.

The reaction was instantaneous. Neuro went stiff for few rapid heartbeats before he moved to wrap his arms all around the human girl to hold her tight against his frame as his kiss actually deepened. Yako felt not only her tongue rubbed against and twined around, but the back of her palate, the root of her tongue, the back of her throat, Neuro reached every place in her mouth and touched it.

Yako kissed him back. She didn’t fight as much as she turned this way and that to get a better fell of his mouth. A few quick kisses that were buried in a much hotter, stifling stroke seemed so loud to her ears she couldn’t think of what else to do but accept him.

They lay there, barely moving, wrapped around each other so tightly it was almost impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

But at long last, the need to breathe forced Yako away from the demon’s kiss and she turned on her side as she gasped in lungful after lungful of cool oxygen. Feeling strangely detached, she moved one hand to her lips while the other went to her own hair, trying to pull feeling back into her limbs by tugging at the roots of her still damp locks. But with that slight movement came the sudden awareness of a distinct dampness to her underwear. And being forced to acknowledge exactly what that dampness was made Yako’s heart stop in abject terror.

She hadn’t… She couldn’t have… He shouldn’t…

“That is what is commonly called the Deep Kiss, or maybe the French Kiss,” Neuro smirked against her throat, his breath hot and his scent strong and drifting all around her. He raised his head, his eyes actually shimmering as he looked into her own brown orbs. “I think I like this way better.”

Panicked, confused and distraught, Yako quickly grabbed her pillow and covered her entire head. It wasn’t so much to hide her burning blush as it was to prevent Neuro from attempting to kiss her again.

“Yako?” The Demon pushed himself up on his elbows at his human’s sudden retreat. Of course, the flimsy cushion was hardly a defense, but still feeling that pleasant tingle from the ordeal, he decided to carefully pry it away. Surprisingly, Yako held it down tighter against her face.

“Are you attempting suicide, louse?” He asked, amused at her. “The minute that you pass out, your grip will relax, thereby releasing the pillow and you’ll automatically start breathing again.”

The human girl didn’t answer.

Tugging at it again, he was again met with resistance. “Yako, don’t be difficult.”

“Don’t…” Yako finally mumbled from beneath her pillow. “Please, don’t…”

“Was it so unpleasant?” Neuro asked, feeling somewhat thwarted. It had been nice enough from his standpoint.

“It’s not that… It’s just… I don’t want…” She curled up into a tight ball, still holding the pillow tight to her face as she actually started trembling. “Please, go away…”

Neuro could have refused. It’s not as if he hadn’t bullied her before, but something about her refusal struck something unpleasant in him. And so, without a word, the Demon stood up and left the room through the door for once.

Yako lay in bed, bewildered and mortified by the impossible yet undeniable truth: the Demon Nougami Neuro had aroused her with the deepest, most invasive kiss of her life.

Neuro stood out in the hall, undeniably impressed by the definitive fact that one Katsuragi Yako had actually brushed his hair. That she had aroused the desire to touch for the very first time in his life.

But neither could take pleasure in how the entire ordeal had ended.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank You So Much for reading!


End file.
